The Hindu 29.12.2014
Kumbakonam Municipality to hold paperless council meet
Part of civic body’s plan to introduce e-governance, seamless service
Stepping into its 148th year, the Kumbakonam
Municipality is all set to conduct a paperless council meet, the first
of it kind in its history and among the local bodies in the region, here
on Tuesday.
The Kumbakonam Municipality came into
being in 1866 and during its chequered history has been responsible in
developing the civic area and has effectively contributed to the
pilgrims’ cause, particularly during the Mahamaham festival, which falls
once in 12 years.
The next Mahamaham is due in 2016, when the civic body would be celebrating its 150th anniversary.
In fact, the Kumbakonam Municipality bagged the State government’s Best Municipality Award for the current year.
In
line with the State government’s desire to reduce the amount of paper
work involved in governmental transactions and to introduce futuristic
concepts such as e-governance and paperless office to provide seamless
and expeditious service to the public, the municipality has decided to
conduct its next regular monthly meet scheduled for Tuesday in a
paperless manner.
Officials here claim that this could be the first such instance by a civic body in the region.
Following
this, all circulars, agenda for the meetings, invitations and notices
have been digitalised and work has been going on at a feverish pace to
meet the Tuesday deadline.
All the 45 ward
councillors have been given Tablet PCs with 3G connectivity, 8GB memory
card, besides being trained in e-signature and other applications
necessary for transacting regular business.
The
agenda for Tuesday’s meet along with the invitations have already been
mailed to the respective councillors and officials a couple of days back
and they have been duly digitally acknowledged to set the stage for the
first paperless council meet.
Already the Kumbakonam
Municipality is setting the benchmark in providing separate plastic
waste bins to each and every household for effective solid waste
management and segregation of waste at source.
